The four minute anti-Obama attack ad aired by Fox News this morning was the equivalent of $96,000 of free advertising for the Republican Party. Sources confirm to Media Matters that at the current rate of $6,000 for a 30-second ad on Fox and Friends, the cost of airing two four-minute attack ads would cost an outside group $96,000*. Fox News aired their ad at 6:45 a.m. and 8:07 a.m. during that program.

Fox is also promoting the ad at the top of their Fox Nation website as "Must-See Fox Video."

Conservative blogger Ed Morrisey of HotAir.com wrote, "If anyone wanted to look for evidence that the overall Fox News organization intends to campaign against Obama rather than cover the campaign, this video would be difficult to refute as evidence for that claim."

Baltimore Sun media critic David Zurawik described the ad as "shamelessly political" and said, "Any news organization that puts up this kind of video is rotten to the core."

Dylan Byers of Politico added, "For all its blatantly conservative programming, Fox News does a pretty incredible job of swearing up and down that it's non-partisan. But it's kind of impossible to see how you walk this one back."

Mediaite's Noah Rothman noted that the ad "bore striking resemblance to a Republican party web ad."

In 2010, Fox gave potential Republican presidential candidates the equivalent of $54.7 million in free advertising while they appeared as hosts or contributors employed by the network for more than 85 hours.

The New York Times was forced to issue two corrections after relying on Capitol Hill anonymous sourcing for its flawed report on emails from former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The Clinton debacle is the latest example of why the media should be careful when relying on leaks from partisan congressional sources -- this is far from the first time journalists who did have been burned.

Several Fox News figures are attempting to shift partial blame onto Samuel DuBose for his own death at the hands of a Cincinnati police officer during a traffic stop, arguing DuBose should have cooperated with the officer's instructions if he wanted to avoid "danger."

Iowa radio host Steve Deace is frequently interviewed as a political analyst by mainstream media outlets like NPR, MSNBC, and The Hill when they need an insider's perspective on the GOP primary and Iowa political landscape. However, these outlets may not all be aware that Deace gained his insider status in conservative circles by broadcasting full-throated endorsements of extreme right-wing positions on his radio show and writing online columns filled with intolerant views that he never reveals during main stream media appearances.